1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to furniture such as beds and chairs and in particular to furniture having a tiltable bed deck or chair seat.
2. Background of the Invention
As people age or suffer a deterioration in health it often becomes difficult to perform simple activities. It is often necessary for those people to receive assistance for activities such as getting into or out of beds and chairs. The assistance may take many forms. For example, assistance from another person may be provided. However, such a solution is often costly and it may be inconvenient or undesirable for both parties. Various mechanisms have been devised to provide the needed assistance. In particular, beds have been designed that mechanically tilt a person from a lying position to a standing position and vice versa.
The beds that include tilting mechanisms have generally included large frames that are coupled to the outer edges of a deck. The frames generally include at least one frame member that extends along the outer surface of the bed deck. The deck is secured to the frame at pivot points so that it can be pivoted with respect to the frame between a horizontal position and a vertical position. When the deck is tilted to a vertical position, the frame often extends past the deck on both lateral sides. This results in an overall footprint for the bed that is unnecessarily large because the frame must be large enough to support the deck on the outer edge. In addition, when the deck is tilted it often passes adjacent to frame members. The close proximity between the deck and frame creates pinch points at numerous locations. Since the frame and deck interface at an outer edge of the deck, it is easy for a user to unwittingly place a body part in one of the pinch points and become injured during a tilting operation.
Additionally, in beds that include tilting mechanisms the pivot point is often located close to the longitudinal center of the deck. With such a configuration, in order for the deck to be tilted to a vertical position, the pivot point must be located high off the ground. Since that height also corresponds to the height of the deck when it is in the horizontal position it often results in the bed deck being so high that persons, particularly those with limited physical mobility, can find it difficult to get onto the mattress when the deck is horizontal.
There is a need for beds and chairs having tiltable deck and seat assemblies that are lower to the ground and safer to operate.